How much does your ZIP code donate to charity? Database shows how much America gives

The data from the “How America Gives” report, which was released by The Chronicle of Philanthropy in August of last year, examines data by ZIP code and by income level in every city and town in the country.

The data is based on the value of charitable deductions claimed by American households on Internal Revenue Service tax returns for 2008, which is the most recent year this level of detail is available. It does not include data from those who did not itemize their charitable donations and only includes taxpayers who reported incomes of $50,000 or more due to discrepancies in the data for people earning below $50,000, according to The Chronicle.

The donations accounted for in the returns studied by The Chronicle account for about $135 billion of the $214 billion that Giving USA Foundation estimated individuals contributed in 2008.

Recognizing that cost of living varies across the nation, The Chronicle’s rankings show the percentage that households donated from the money they had left “after paying their taxes and covering housing, food and other essential expenses,” according to the journal.